Automatic ignition and lighting system.



L A. HEANY.

AUTOMATIC IGNITION AND LIGHTING SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED NOV.24, 1909 1,139,521 Patented May 18, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

Fig-1 INVENTUI? John Allen Heany ATTOIRNEY 1. A. HI-IAN'Y.

AUTOMATIC IGNITION AND LIGHTING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED'NOV. 24, 1909.'

1,139,521. Patented May18,1915.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

4 5 fs D (9 28 3435 ll a I 4 2 'i k WITNESS s, 31 INVENTOR 1%? 5' John Allen Heqny firm/mar Jenn HEANY, 01*. YORK;' maasnvmm}Assmamm MnsNE-Assmm-Emrs;

- To all whomit concern i Ton. E. L, LEG IE; or wasnmeromprsrnrcr OF COLUMBIA. 1 V y Be it known that I, JOHN A LEN HE NY, a, citizen of the United States, and a resi dent of York, in the county ofYork and '.State of Pennsylvania, have invented: cer tain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Ignition and Lighting Systems, of' which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description,

hereby anyone skilled in the artmay make and use the same.

The inve tion relates pri' arily to the ignitio'n deviceof a gas-engine combined with apparatus for furnishing lightsin -conjunc-' tion with the ignitio'neircuit. --It is particularly well adaptable forflise in connection with vehicles, vwherein I there is .a prime mover for operating the vehicle, which, in the. case of a liquid hydro-carbon or' gas engine, must be supplied with a current of.

electricity for ignition purposes.

The objects of the invention are toprovi'de a simple and compact mechanism which, as a unit,- maybe applied to or removed from Itheniain engine or prime mover' of any given system of mechanism and which will operate entirely independent of said main prime mover, except in so far as'it furnishesthenecessary current for ignition purposes.

It is a further 'object' to so arrange the mechanism that the. :operator may at will and by very simple operation, util ze the current being generatedfor ignition purposes,-for lighting purposes or for both,

Referring to the,drawings': Figure '1 1s a usedfor operating" a dynamo e1 the invention. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view 5 indicatingthe" various devices employedand the wiring system therefor.

In a .co-pending application there has been describedan ignition currentproducing device comprising a un t j appl cable to any form of'engine, in 'WhlCll an e iplos ve 'scrib ed in said application,'' are m able speed "of the' engindwhich chine or magneto for dpj'ci ng'eia for the ignition systemis completely obv ated.

' Secondly, the prime mover'of the "ignition "m amcimiwiridn nfinaaiisszstm .tlOIlS not ne y as to'its details and 'ne" specifically, plan-view of aflvehicle", chassis, merely illus- 'trative of an advantageous application of a main tank 8 through "9, which leads to a' car' 10, and from said caii b'u through suitable co'nne'c ons v to the individual cylinders 0 Obviously, each cylindfe With an ignition device in ofeXplosivemiX have" 'riece ssarily afiected v i pe c ification of Eettei'sjPatent. Pdten td 191 5;v Application filed November 24,1909, seri 1'no.s29;s95-,f i apparatus may be actuatedjfrom inal source and with anydes red p'ower,thro ugh steam, compressefd a1r, "or bea turbinej or",

hydro-carbon engine or gasf'engine'," as] may best suit the exigencies 'of any particular case; In any event, hefcurrm producing mechanism considered as a innit and includ ing a prime mover and dynamofelectric ma chine, maybe operated without regard to fact, it is a nnit in, itself, sogcorrelated-with the main. prime mover as'toi always o erateunder uniform condit o the, main prime mover and sour'ce'o'f power forwhich thefproducedcurrent isuused. In

p i In the accompanying drawingsfand for convenience, the proposed mechanism is shown in'connecti'on with a road 1 vehicle or automobile of ordinarytype,employingfor gine.

Referring to Fig. 1, the notes a chassis" frame, motor2, and is provided 3, 4, and steering whe trolled in their directiona steering'wheel'i', through 1st its'prime mover a hydro-carbon eni driving mechanisnr fro I rear drlving wheels 3, 4'

o mmaterial The engine 2,:recei ves t fu ture Heie

ai seri and it has been diificult to provide governing mechanisms, which would satisfactorily compensate for the wide variations in speed and secure uniform and proper tension of current in the ignition system.

To overcome these objections as far as possible the present invention contemplates the arrangement of a fixed unit which includes a prime mover A, and a dynamo electric machine or current producing device B. These two devices are connected directly together sothat a rotation of the shaft of the prime mover will cause the rotation of the movingpart of the dynamo electric machine. Both devices are coalesced intov a. single structure, which may preferably be'mounted upon-the engine frame, following the general practice of mounting a magneto on the frame of the engine where it may be directly driven from the engine shaft or cam shaft. In the present case, however, the isolated I movement comprising the prime mover A,

and dynamoelectric machine B, receives its supply of fuel as illustrated herein, from the main tank 8, through a suitable pipe'or conduit 15, which terminates in a suitable carbureting or other mechanism appurtenant to the rime mover.

The termmals of the dynamo electric machine are connected with a switch mechanism 16, conveniently located upon the dash of tions of the system are illustrated m Fig. 2,

.where A, indicates the prime mover, herein illustrated for convenience, as an engine of 'two cycle type, which, in lieu-of belt-driven,

as illustrated in diagram in Fig. 2, is directly connected to the shaft 17, of the dynamo electric machine B as illustrated in Fig. 1.- This mechanism is to be adjusted to run' at a constant speed and. to develop the necessary current forthe lighting and ignition circuit.

' B, is grounded as at "One terminal of the d which mayvery con:

veniently be the frame of the chasis. Thev opposite terminal 18, is led to a contact 19, of the switch C, which has a contact point 20, controlling a lamp circuit 21, 22, the latter grounded as at g; the second contact point 22, controlling the circuit 23, ofa battery 24, one side of which is grounded as at g and a further contact 25', controlling :1

- circuit 26, which forms the ignition circuit of the system. The lead 26, is connected to one terminal of a make and break device D,

which may be of any well known type. As

illustrated'herein, it has a movable contact 27, coiiperating with a stationary contact 28, the latter connected through a lead, 29, with the low tension side 30, of a transformer E.

amo electric machine operating contacts of the spark plug are, of

course, grounded in the engine and therefore in the common ground of the system.

With the above arrangement of parts, it is apparent that the first position of the switch 0, will connect the battery 24, with the igni- I 3 tion circuit 26 through the contact piece 16, and the engine of the vehicle may be started. The second position of the switch C, gives the contacts 22, and 19 through the contact piece 16. Thereupon the current of the battery is directed to the dynamo electric ma chine B, which, becoming a motor, starts the prime mover A, of the 1 iting unit. This movement of the switch cuts out the connections from the battery 24, to the ignition system 26. A further movement connects the terminals 19, and 25, through the contact pieces 16, 16", which are interconnected, thus furnishing the ignition circuit directly from the generating unit. A further movement of the switch Q, cuts in the lighting circuit 21, by connecting the terminals 19, and 20 through contact pieces 16 and 16?, which are interconnected.

With this arrangement, it will be seen that the battery may be temporarily used for providing current to the ignition system of the main engine, and may also be used for starting the generating unit. There'upon, a current from the generating unit .may be utilized in the ignition system and may, 'at

will, be used in the lighting system. With such an arrangement, the entire current for the lighting and ignition systems may be secured and may be controlled from a single switch upon the dash of a vehicle or any other convenient location and either or both of said circuits may be used with the assurance that there will be no such fluctuations in current condition as to materially interfere with properignition or proper lighting.

Obviously, the exact details and connections might be varied to suit the exigencies of any;particular case, and, if desired, the

switch 0, may be so arranged that the battery could be utilized in any temporary emergency for the lighting system, as well as for the ignition system. The main object, however, is to provide an individual unit which may be started at will by the oper-' ator,.-'from the battery or other source of supply and will operate continuously without reference'to the o eration of the en 1' to which it may be curren fb r the ignition -I ;c1aim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is I '-,-Incombination with an engine, a lighting and ignition system therefor embodying a unit consisting of a prime mover and adyiiamo electric machine, a fuel supply for the prime mover whereby tln unit may be operated independently of the engine, a storage battery fordriving the dynamo electric machine and thus starting the prime mover,

a lighting circuit and an ignition circuit JOHN ALLEN HEANY.

Witnesses 2 FRED. B. MCLAREN, MAXWELL GnBonE. 

